Agent Vinod headed for losses?

Made on a budget of Rs 62 crore, Agent Vinod has collected Rs 28 crore to Rs 30 crore on its opening weekend. Although this is Saif Ali Khan’s biggest opening to date, trade analysts believe the film is headed for losses.

"Agent Vinod opened dull at many centres," says trade analyst Komal Nahta. "Given the weak reports, it seems headed for losses. The cost was too high and the collections are low in comparison. The collections over the weekend are approximately Rs 27.5 to Rs 28 crores."

There are several reasons why the film is not doing well, says trade analyst Amod Mehra. "One, it’s not strong in single screen theatres," he says. "The masses and small towns are not understanding the film at all. Whatever footfalls you see are in the multiplexes. And two, there is no growth in numbers from the opening day to the weekend. That indicates the first weekend rush started but didn’t multiply. And Monday’s early morning collections are very bad, which indicates the film will not hold on."

Though the Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer has no competition next week since no major films are releasing on Friday, Mehra doesn’t believe Agent Vinod can sustain itself at the box office. "Even Players (2012) had a clear field," he says. "What happened? If the film is not good, it will not sustain. For a film made at a high budget, Agent Vinod has an extremely bad count. It will not be able to hold on."

Sanjay Ghai, who heads the film production, distribution and exhibition firm Mukta Arts Ltd (Delhi), says, "Delhi and UP have made Rs 6 crore. If this were a low budget film, this figure would have been good for them. But given the production cost of this film, the money it’s making across India is not good."

For Saif, however, Agent Vinod has provided the biggest opening weekend he has had to date. Says Dinesh Vijayn of Illuminati Films, producers of Agent Vinod, "The film has got Saif the biggest opening so far. His last big opening was Love Aaj Kal (2009), which opened at Rs 27 crores."

Vijayn has a slightly different take on the film’s numbers so far. He says, "The film made Rs 9.8 crores on the first day, Rs 10.2 crores on the second day and Rs 10 crores on the third day day. Agent Vinod was made at a cost of Rs 50 crores and we spent Rs 12 crores on promotions. So the total cost is Rs 62 crores. The music of the film has been sold at Rs 9 crores and satellite rights for seven years for Rs 21 crores."

A distributor who did not wish to be named blamed the film’s poor box office showing on instant reviews and reactions put out by the country’s social networkers. "A good film normally takes a 20 per cent higher opening on Saturday and Sunday," he says, "But the bad word of mouth and poor storyline has worked against the film. We got some scary and nasty forwards about the film on our phones."

Jokes on TwitterSaif to visit homes of Agent Vinod victims and paint their walls in order to recover the money.